Superheroes
by CrashBagPhoto
Summary: New Englandy town AU. The whole crew is in college at some small New England town in Up state NY. Nico works at a bookstore that Leo visits every single Tuesday. All their friends know about the two of them, and yet they keep quite. The story starts when Nico finally works up the courage to talk to Leo. May be OOC, sorry. All pairings cannon except Valdangelo
1. The Human Torch

**Chapter One: The Human Torch**

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**HELLO MY PRETTIES! Guess who's back!? That's right! (~^U^)~ ~(^U^~) (~^U^)~ ~(^U^~) **

**Anyways, Here is that college fic I promised you guess a month ago. And, if you must know, I successfully won NaNoWriMo with six days to spare! I hit over 51000 words! *Bows* So, here you guys go! Please enjoy!**

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"Good morning, can I help you with anything?" the man in the aisle asked. I blushed made some noncommittal noise. He laughed, going back to shelving the books. "If you think of anything, let me know." I ran to the corner where I knew there was the comic book selection.

"You like Spiderman?" the worker asked, popping up behind me. I yelped, jumping and blushing bright red. "Whoa, sorry. Didn't mean to startle you," he hurried to say, his hands held out in surrender position.

"It's okay," I managed to gasp, wide eyes glued to the ground.

"So? Spiderman?" he asked. I looked up at the man from beneath my thick lashes that my best friend, Piper, always told me looked as though I had mascara on. He was absolutely beautiful, with black hair cut messily and hid beneath a black beanie with the words, "bite me," on them.

He had smooth olive skin that was horribly pale and the deepest brown eyes that I'd ever seen. Most people would call them black, but I knew better. I should after all, having secretly watched him for months now. I'd moved up here in May when I'd gotten settled in in my apartment. I was junior in college and had just transferred up to northern New York.

I didn't know how old he was, but I guessed college age, freshman or sophomore, though he looked a lot younger, especially with his dark clothes. He always wore black skinny jeans and tee-shirts and black combat boots that didn't do much to help his height. Not that I was one to talk, of course. He had a bunch of piercings, two bars and a stud in his eyebrow, gauges on his ears and a few on the arch of his ear, and a silver ring on his lip that he spun whenever he got nervous.

Like he was doing now, which was about when I realized he'd asked me a question.

"What?! Oh, yea, Spiderman," I blushed. "He's cool, but I like the Fantastic Four better."

"The Human Torch?" the man asked. I snuck a look at the name tag on his shirt, the only sign he worked here, which told me his name was Nico. I don't know why I never noticed that before. I guess I've always been too embarrassed to raise my head. And while this wasn't our first conversation, this was the first, non-required one. Small talk over check-out definitely did not count. Nope.

"Yea," I nodded. "Though they are all cool."

"Yea. I like the rock guy best, but you struck me as a fire guy," Nico smirked, hands in his front pockets.

"Yea," I said again, grinning and slowly relaxing. Fire was my element.

"I'm Nico," he said, holding out a hand, his nails a chipped black.

"I know," I said, mentally hitting myself as I took his hand. He raised a pierced eyebrow, and I hurried to say, "Your name tag. It says Nico. And, well, why would you be wearing a name tag that doesn't say your name?" Nico chuckled, shaking his head. I noticed he'd stopped twirling his lip ring.

"Cute. You come to the shop a lot, don't you?" he asked. "Every Tuesday." I blushed and nodded. "Why?"

"I need books to read," I shrugged.

"You like to read?" Nico asked. I shrugged again.

"It's tough but I like it. Dyslexia and all that," I winced.

"Same," he gave me a lopsided grin that had me blushing deeply yet again. "You in college?"

"Yea," I nodded, "The only one up here." (**I am not associated with towns and colleges in NY, so I am politely skipping the mention of one. Sorry!**)

"Cool. Me too. Sophomore," Nico nodded.

"Junior," I smiled. "I've never seen you around, though. What's your major?"

"Psychology. You?" he asked.

"That explains it. I'm majoring in engineering. Weird how we are in the same college, though. My friend's a beautician and another is here on a scholarship for swimming. He wants to go to the Olympics. I think Annabeth is studying Psychology, though," I grinned.

"Annabeth Chase?" Nico raised his eyebrow again. I nodded. "I know her. She's dating Percy Jackson, right? Is he your scholarship friend?"

"Yea. You know them?" I asked, shocked.

"Yea. We actually went to the same high school. Would you by any chance be Leo?" Nico asked.

"Yea. Does Percy talk about me?" I winced.

"Yea, but I don't find you half as annoying as he does," Nico smirked. I scowled, muttering under my breath. Nico laughed.

"I'll let you look for books. See you around, Leo," Nico grinned. I nodded and dove into the shelves. I grabbed the first good book that I saw, even though I think I already owned it, and went to the cashier to pay. Nico gave me a wink as he slid a bookmark into the book before handing it over. I dashed out of the little bookstore and ran back to my apartment, which I shared with Jason.

"Hey dude," he smirked, relaxing on the couch.

"Hey. You know a Nico?" I asked, sitting beside him and clutching my book to my chest.

"Yea. He's one of Percy's friends, isn't he?" Jason said. I nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"I…He works at the bookstore I always go to," I admitted. Jason laughed.

"Would he be why you always go there?" Jason asked, the look in his eyes telling me he knew exactly why I was blushing. I guess that was what sucked about having lived with your best friend for a few years and having him know everything about me. Majorly sucked.

"Shut up," I mumbled, hitting his arm with my book. Jason laughed again, ruffling my hair as he stood. I just sat on the couch, fighting a stupid grin from crawling onto my face and failing epically. I opened the book to begin reading, only to gasp in surprise.

One the bookmark, written in black sharpie, was a number and two words.

"Text me."

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**Didja like it? Didja, didja? I hope you did! Please review to let me know if you like it, and make my day! Sorry for the month long hiatus, but I promise I am back for a while! **


	2. Batman

**Chapter two: Batman**

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**Hello my pretties! Because I am writing this on a ferry ride and have quite a lot of time, I have written chapter TWO for you too! How awesome am I? So, here is chapter two! Bold is Leo, and italics is Nico, by the way. You will see what I mean. R&amp;R and enjoy!**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or characters. They belong to our wonderful Frienemy Rick Riordan. This is a ****_fan_**** fiction for a reason.**

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"Have you _still_ not texted him?" Piper whined, nudging me. I stuck my tongue out at her, staring down at the phone in my lap. It already had the number programed into it, but I had yet to gather the courage to actually text the guy. And it was Friday.

"Oh come on, it's not that hard," Jason smirked, trying to sling an arm around his girlfriend. We were in a little café sipping coffee while Piper tried doing makeup on Annabeth.

"It is!" I protested.

"Seriously, man, text the guy. I've been hearing him talk about you for weeks. If he got up the courage to give you his number, text him." Percy sighed, kicking his feet up on the table, only to have them slapped down by Hazel as she walked by. She was our friend, as well, and I'd also figured out that she was Nico's half-sister.

"Well maybe if you guys would've introduced us earlier, than we wouldn't have this problem," I cried, exasperated.

"He had a boyfriend," Hazel shrugged, kissing her boyfriend, Frank, as he entered the café. He grinned, sitting down besides Percy, who'd once again kicked his feet up. "And he is totally your type. We didn't need you pining over him."

"Really?!" I groaned. "That's your logic. All of you knew him! I was the _only_ one in the dark. Don't you think that's a tad mean?"

"No, a tad mean would be inviting him to coffee with us all and not telling you," Annabeth shrugged, making Piper scold her for moving and everyone else yell at her for spoiling the surprise. I just sat there in shock.

"He….He's coming _here_?" I squeaked, shrinking into my jacket. My friends all winced but nodded. I looked down at my grease stained brown slacks and white tee-shirt that I could never get clean. I still had my tool belt on from the class I'd just gotten out off. I was so not ready to be seen by the guy I was crushing on.

"And look who's coming in…" Jason whispered. I glared at them all, swearing as I tried hiding behind Frank's considerable girth.

"Hey Nico!" Hazel greeted him with a hug at the door before pointing him towards us. He sat between Jason and me, leaning back and crossing his arms.

"Percy…" he growled. I flinched, but didn't look up. It took me a minute to realize he said Percy's name, not mine.

"Yes?" the green eyed boy said, blinking his big eyes innocently. I didn't hear Nico say anything, so I looked up, catching the tail end of an angry war of looks and facial expressions. I blushed, realizing it was about me. I tried excusing myself, but Frank grabbed my sleeve and pulled me back into my seat. The rest of our group tried to go along as though nothing was happening, but the tension between Nico and I was palpable.

Eventually I couldn't take it anymore and left for the bathroom. Taking deep breaths to calm myself, I splashed water on my burning face. Then I pulled out my phone, staring at the open text page.

And then, on a whim that I was totally going to regret later, I texted Nico.

**Hey. It's Leo.**

_Hey, Torch_. Nico texted back almost immediately. **Torch? That's my nickname? **I snorted. _Yes. Problem? _He fired back, though after a slight pause, he said, _are you hiding from me in the bathroom? _I blushed deeply before saying, **maybe. **

_That's adorable. _He shot back, and I could feel his smirk through the door to the bathroom.

**It's embarrassing. **I winced. I imagined him laughing, and suddenly regretted that I was sitting on a toilet and not out there hearing it.

_How about you come out here and free me from our friends? _He asked. I blushed and texted back **okay. I'm having problems finding the chamber of secrets anyways. **Before leaving the bathroom. Nico was laughing at the table, much to the confusion of everyone else.

"Bye," I whispered to everyone before leaving with Nico, ignoring Piper's knowing glances and Jason's thumbs up. We walked for a while down a line of shops.

"Do we have any idea where we are going?" Nico asked finally after a long silence. I laughed and shook my head. "Great, Torch, just great."

"Please don't call me that," I winced.

"Why?" he asked.

"It's what they called me in high school," I frowned, my eyes on the pavement. Nico's mouth made a little O of understanding.

"They called me Emo, like I was the personification of emo and Goth and all things dark," Nico admitted. I smiled. "Percy still calls me Ghost King. But at least that's in good nature."

"You don't look emo to me," I smirked.

"No?" he asked.

"No. More like a mini Batman," I nudged him with my shoulder, making Nico laugh.

"Batman? Well, please say I'm hotter than Bruce Wayne," he shook his head.

"I don't know, Adam West is pretty hot," I shrugged, smirking.

"You wound me," he gasped, hand over his heart. I laughed, shaking my head. We walked for a little while longer before deciding to turn around, mainly because we were freezing in the crisp late November wind. As we walked back towards the café, which was on a green in the center of the town, I pulled out a lighter from my pocket, absentmindedly flicking it open and closed.

"Do you smoke?" Nico asked, nodding to it.

"What? No," I shook my head hard. "I don't do drugs or anything."

"Same. But then what's with the lighter?" Nico asked.

"Oh… Would you believe me if I told you it belonged to my abuelo?" I winced. He shook his head.

"Too new. " I sighed.

"Just 'cus, then," I whispered. "I'll see you later?" Nico nodded, saying good bye as I hurried off to walk home, which wasn't really that far from the café.

"How'd your date go?" Jason asked as I walked in.

"Good, until I stupidly pulled out my lighter," I scowled.

"Lighter?" Jason's voice had a slight warning in it. He walked up to me, holding out his hand. I groaned, but handed him the little black case. "You know you aren't supposed to have one of these," Jason scolded, locking it in a chest he kept in his closet. I mocked him behind his back.

"Yea, yea," I waved my hand dismissively.

"Did you tell him why?" Jason asked. I shook my head.

"He asked if I smoked though, and I told him no, so it's only a matter of time before he figured out," I sighed, running my hand through my hair.

"You could tell him, you know," Jason suggested. "He'd get it, you know." I scowled, going into my room, yelling, "Yea right. I have only been talking to him for a few days, you know," over my shoulder. Jason said something else, but I couldn't hear him.

_Hey torcia. _My phone buzzed. I was confused for a minute, until I looked up the unusual word on google and texted Nico back. **Did you just call me Torch in Italian?!**

_Oh dang, you caught on, _he said, a smiley face tagged onto the end. I shook my head, but I didn't get mad. It didn't feel mean, for some reason. **Just use Torch, Batman. It doesn't sound weird. You speak Italian?** I shot back.

_Grew up in Italy. Moved to the US when I was ten. _

**Cool. I'm Latino. I speak Spanish.**

_I gathered. You want a gold star? ;) _I laughed. This banter was easy, and it didn't seem as though Nico had remembered anything about the lighter. Maybe he'd forgot, or, more likely, he was waiting to bring it up.

**I'd prefer a cookie, but a star is good. **

_Would you take popcorn?_ I gasped, staring at the text for a few seconds as I read through the implications. Finally, I decided on a simple, direct approach and said, **Are you asking me to the movies?**

_Yes. Tomorrow at six work?_

**Sure. Meet you at the café. **

_Bye, Torch. _

**Bye Batman. **

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**Didja like it? Didja, didja? Please review to let me know if you like it! I also take requests and would love to hear (hopefully polite) criticism! I'll try to update again soon, but it might take me a week, go figure. ****L****Thank you for reading!**


	3. The Avengers

**Chapter Three: the Avengers**

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**Okay, quick warning: really long, really boring chapter. I am terribly sorry. Please stick with it though, next chapter will be good, promises. Please review, and I hope you kind of, sort of, maybe like it. Even a little would be okay!**

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That Saturday I met Nico at the cafe, like planned. I had to wait a few minutes, though, shivering with my hands inside my bomber jacket. I actually wound up going inside to get a coffee, which was good because when I got out, Nico was just arriving.

"Hey, Torch," he said, a half smile on his face. He was wearing a bomber jacket that was halfway zipped over a black tee-shirt with the outline of a pac-man ghost peeking over the edge. He still had in all his piercings and had his black hair pulled back into a small ponytail.

"Hey Batman," I smirked, trying to calm my erratic heartbeat. "Ready to go?"

"Sure. Avengers?" he asked, one eyebrow raised in the way that I'd never be able to manage.

"What else?" I scoffed, making my companion laugh. I liked his laugh. We walked the half a block to the movie theater, which still had one of those old fashioned billboards with the lights jutting out of the building, with a ticket booth in front. Nico bought the tickets while I bought the biggest thing of popcorn that I could possible afford.

"How can you be so incredibly skinny if you eat that much?" Nico asked.

"It's a blessing and a curse, my friend," I sighed dramatically. Nico scoffed.

"I'm sure. You know, our friends knew about the two of us this whole time," he said, sipping the Dr. Pepper I'd also bought.

"I know," I scowled. "Not cool."

"Agreed. You are cool, Torch. I wish I'd known you earlier," Nico smirked, ruffling my hair. I cried out in protest, but smiled inwardly. Nico was a few inches taller, which was only helped by his boots and the fact that I was wearing my simple black converse.

"Who's your favorite Avenger?" I asked, changing the subject, not so subtly. I didn't need to be blushing so heavily before the movie even started.

"Stark. He's hilarious," Nico smirked, sitting beside me. We were sitting close to the front, both of us just this side of two short to see over the people in front.

"Mine's Rogers. He's hot," I whispered, wincing a little when Nico laughed.

"That he is," Nico agreed. I smiled slightly, relaxing back as the movie started. The two hours passed quickly, and we left the theater, squinting against the bright light of day as we talked about the movie.

"How did you eat all that popcorn?! I barely had any!" Nico cried, shaking his head as I threw out my bag. I stuck my tongue out at him, hurrying to catch up with his long strides. For someone his size, he walked really fast.

"What do you want to do now?" I asked, smiling.

"Wait in agony for the next movie?" he said dryly. I snorted.

"No really," I urged. "Unless you want to just go home, which is cool too, I mean I totally get it."

"We should go to my apartment. I live alone, but there is a little playground next to the building," Nico suggested.

"You want to play on a playground?" I asked, skeptical.

"No, I want to make you hurl on the tilt-a-whirl," Nico smirked.

"Oh it's on," I smirked. We raced to the playground, which was totally rigged as I had to follow Nico. I was panting and sweating when we finally got there, though Nico seemed unaffected, which was totally not fair. We didn't go up to his apartment, just went straight into the playground where I clung to death to the little tilted wheel that Nico kept kicking to make me spin. I fell off within moments, getting little woodchips all messed up in my hair and clothes. Nico made me get on again until I was thoroughly dizzy, when I did the same to him. He looked hilarious, a big, badass looking college kid clinging to a playground toy I'd last used when I was six. When we were both as tipsy as we'd be had we gone to a bar, we sat down on the swings, our feet dragging.

"Okay, question game time," I said, spinning in my swing.

"How do we play?" Nico asked. "And why?"

"To get to know each other. We need to make up for the lost time our friends stole from us. And it's simple. One of us asks a question and we both have to answer. Questions need to start out light, like favorite color, but can get deeper if you want. If you don't answer, you have to do whatever the other person says. You can pick the question if you really don't want to do whatever it is, though. So yea. You game?" I explained, smiling.

"Sure. Favorite color?" Nico asked.

"Green," I smirked.

"Green is not a creative color," Nico said deadpan. I laughed. "Mine is black. Like my soul." I laughed again.

"Okay, so favorite band?" I asked.

"Linkin Park," Nico said.

"Green Day," I said.

"Umm…Favorite food?"

"Sushi."

"Tamales."

"Best superhero? Not the Human Torch, of course."

"Of course. Um…Power wise or opinion wise?"

"Power."

"Superman. You can't beat him. U?" I asked.

"I think probably the Hulk. He is like indestructible. And green."

"I thought green wasn't a creative color. And Superman is indestructible," I smirked.

"True. Okay, so your turn." Nico shook his head, crooked smile sprawled over his features.

"Worst super power. I say invisibility."

"Why? I'd think it's be super stretch."

"Assuming you couldn't make your clothes invisible too, you'd have to be naked. And yea, super stretch sucks. You could get tied into a knot." I scowled.

"Nice. Well…Who do you live with?"

"Jason. Do you live on your own?"

"Yea."

"Okay. So did those piercings hurt?"

"No, not really. But that's not really fair, you don't have piercings," Nico whined.

"Fine. Do you have any tattoos?" I sighed.

"No. I'm afraid of needles. You do?" Nico frowned.

"Yea. I have a metallic dragon head on my arm." I smirked. "His name is Festus."

"Can I see?" Nico asked, leaning forward in his intrigue. I nodded and showed him. "Wicked. Why?"

"Something my dad and I were going to make, but he left before we made it happen. It's kind of a thing for him, and my mom. She died when I was younger. In a fire." I whispered.

"Mine died a little after we moved here. We being me and Bianca, my other sister. She is with a group of girls who do protests and stuff for a bunch of different causes. We moved from Italy because our mom needed treatment for cancer here, and couldn't take care of us, so we moved in with my dad." Nico sighed, leaning back. "Sucks, doesn't it?"

"Yea." I sighed. "So, most embarrassing moment?"

"When I first moved here and couldn't speak English very well, and I had to get in front of a class of fifth graders to introduce myself. I said fuck you rather than thank you. Didn't go over well," Nico laughed.

"That's terrible! My friends and I would swear in Spanish sometimes in middle school, and none of our teachers would catch us. It was great. Mine would probably be when I was working on a project and spilled grease over the front of my pants. I had to go around school for the rest of the day looking like I wet myself," I blushed, chuckling. Nico burst into laughter, shaking from the force of the outburst.

"I'm sorry, I can just totally imagine that!" He snickered. "You're a mechanic?"

"Yea," I nodded. "My mom and dad were too. I work at the town car shop. I told you my major, right?"

"Yea, I guess I just thought food or something, not actual cars," Nico admitted. I shrugged.

"No biggee. So."

"So." Nico looked at me seriously and we both broke into laughter again. "Okay, so seriously, though. What's with the lighter?" I sobered quickly.

"That's…a long story." I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. "It's…really, really long. And bad."

"Do you not want to share?" Nico asked. I nodded. "Okay. Then get up, you are going for another spin."

"What!" I yelped as the younger boy grabbed my arm and dragged me to the tilt-a-whirl.

"You need to do whatever I say, right? So sit, and hang on." I laughed, but did as ordered. I was happy about it, even though this time I really did throw up a little. It meant that Nico wasn't upset that I didn't tell him. But I knew I'd need to tell him eventually. Everyone else knew, and I couldn't keep him in the dark. But the only reason everyone else knew was because it was why I'd been separated from them for my first two years of college. He'd figure it out, but that was okay.

Right?

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**Okay, sorry for the really long, really boring chapter. I just needed to get that bonding in there somehow and look, EXPOSITION! Ugh. Sorry. Please stick with it, the next chapter will have a time skip and will get to their first kiss! Ooohhhh…. Aaahhhhh…. So yea. Please stick with it, and find out what Leo's big secret is! (Though I think you guys probably can figure it out, I'm not exactly good at 'subtle.') So yea. Please review! It is okay to yell at me for the chapter, I know I'm terrible. **


	4. Quicksilver

**Chapter 4: Quicksilver**

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**Hello my pretties! Here is the next chapter! There's been a time skip, so look! Christmas! Please read and review! And I really hope this makes up for the crappy last one! **

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**Warning: This chapter has mentions of self-harm and hospitals. If this talk triggers you, please don't read. I'll tell you what happened at the A/N at the end, okay? There will be other chapters with this kind of talk, as well, so I will do this for any with that stuff in it, kk? **

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A month passed, and before I knew it, it was Christmas time. I went shopping with Piper, and we had fun trying on dorky sweaters. I got one for all my friends. Well…except for Nico. We'd been hanging out a lot over the past month, and I kind of, maybe, sort of was getting a little crush on him. And by little I mean soul crushing, heart wrenching, twenty ton weight pressing down on my heart and lungs every time I looked at him.

And yet I was still inviting him to Jason's yearly Christmas celebration at our place. It was my first year going, though it wasn't his. And Jason was letting me give him the invite. Because that's what friends are for. Right?

"So are you coming?" I asked, blushing and shifting nervously.

"Coming to what?" Nico raised an eyebrow as he sipped his coffee.

"Jason's Christmas thing. You went last year, didn't you?" I said.

"Yea. You weren't there, though. Where were you?" he wondered.

"I just moved up here in the spring. I was down south for a while," I shrugged, praying he didn't want to know more. I was still dancing around this topic.

"Where were you?" I winced. Dam it, Nico.

"Prison, Neeks, I'm a hardened criminal," I rolled my eyes. "I was just attending a school."

"Which school?" Nico asked. I sighed.

"Don't remember," I laughed, standing and quickly stopping the line of questioning.

"But yea, I am coming. Wouldn't miss it for the world," Nico said with a smirk. I grinned, bubbles of anxiety slowly settling in my stomach, only to reappear the second Christmas Eve showed her pretty little green and red face.

"Leo, get the door!" Jason ordered me from the kitchen when we heard it ring. "It's Nico!"

"How do you know?!" I gasped, jumping up from my spot on the couch by Annabeth and Percy.

"Everyone but he and Hazel and Frank is here!" Jason popped his head out of the little kitchen, scowling at me. "GO!" I yelped and ran to the door, pressing the intercom.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hi Leo!" Hazel grinned. "Can you buzz us up?"

"What's the password?" I sang.

"I have cookies?" Nico said deadpan.

"And we have a winner ladies and gentlemen!" I laughed, letting them in. They kicked off their snowy gear at the door before entering my apartment. It was Nico's first time up here while I was here, so I was anxious beyond belief, a handful of gears and wires in my hands.

"What are you making?" Nico asked, sitting down on the couch as though he owned the place.

"What?! Oh…I have no idea," I laughed, breathless.

"Nice." He smirked, turning to say hi to Percy and Annabeth. When his knee brushed mine, I jumped up, and ran to the kitchen, muttering some excuse and silently hoping no one caught my horrible blush.

"Jason!" I hissed. "I can't do this!"

"Yes you can, you little wimp. Get out there, would you?" he rolled his eyes, setting up a table lined with more food than we'd ever be able to eat. And Piper was still bringing out food from the kitchen.

"No, I can't!" I whined.

"You faced down a group of crazy cannibalistic teenagers who were trying to get to me and Pipes, and you can't eat dinner with your crush?" Jason groaned, exasperated. I nodded seriously.

"Leo if you don't get out there and talk to the guy, I will take away your dessert," Piper warned, coming from the kitchen.

"Can she do that?" I gasped. "She can't do that!"

"I can and I will. DINNER!" she yelled, making me yelp and jump and try to hide behind my best friend, who just laughed and pushed me into a chair. "Nico, sit next to Leo." I whined, but that didn't stop the boy from sitting beside me, giving me a weird look.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I…uh…to many people?" I shrugged, shrinking into the itchy sweater Piper made me wear.

"Agreed. You need a bigger apartment," Nico grimaced. I nodded. We lapsed into companionable silence as our plates were loaded by food and we shoved our faces. I barely ate anything, wanting to save my room for dessert, which I knew was always good, with the blue cookies Percy brought from his mom's and Hazel's fudge.

After dinner, we went to the tree in the tree in the corner next to our TV to exchange presents. I gave Nico a couple of Batman comics, and a Batman DVD, which made him laugh. I got a bunch of tools and sheets of metal from my friends, and a worktable from Nico. But my best present came from Jason and Piper.

"Well, a group of friends from class are having a bonfire for New Year's, and…We decided to take you," Piper said. Jason was sitting with his arms crossed, looking wary. I was frozen, everyone's eyes on me as I slowly realized what that meant. A bonfire. With fire. Actual _fire_. I grinned, jumping up and hugging Piper around the neck, saying thank you a million times. I could hear my friends laughing, but I ignored it.

"Why?!" I gasped, slightly breathless. "I mean, I know I've been good, but why now?"

"Well we figured we can't keep you away from it forever, so we should slowly integrate it into your life until you aren't actively avoiding it, but aren't looking for it, either," Jason said, a hint of warning in his voice. "And what better way than at a place where you will have nothing to do with the fire except looking?" I grinned.

"I'll be good, I promise!" I squealed like a little girl, laughing. "Thank you, thank you so much." I laid back on the couch, my eyes closed. After everyone else got their presents, I went to help Jason put away the mess we'd made at dinner.

Jason ducked into the kitchen to get the vacuum we kept somewhere in there, (I honestly didn't know where it was) while I kept washing down the table. When I finished, I realized Jason still wasn't back, and I went to the kitchen to find him. I heard two familiar voices though, and then, my name. Freezing, I leaned forward to catch their conversation.

"Wait, he really hasn't told you yet?" Jason was saying. "We told him he should tell you but…"

"Why didn't he tell me?" Nico asked. "What didn't he tell me anyways?"

"He has a bad history with fires, and, well, setting them…" Jason whispered. I had to slam my hand over my mouth to stop from screaming. I didn't want Nico to know about this! Why would Jason tell him?"

"He's a pyromaniac?" Nico gasped. I could feel tears in my eyes at the fear and shock in Nico's voice. He wouldn't want to be my friend anymore, let alone anything more. Why would he? No one loves a pyro. No one wants one. Not even the hospitals they tried to send me too, or the residential places.

I ran out of the apartment, slipping on my boots quickly and grabbing my jacket before fleeing down the stairs and out into the snow. I could hear someone calling after me, but I didn't pay any attention to it. I just ran, until I disappeared into the white. I finally stopped when I got to the green in the center of the town, where I dropped my tired and cold body onto the edge of the little fountain frozen over in the center of the green.

I sat there, shivering and wishing I had my gloves, or better yet, some matches. Tears burned on my cheeks, and I brushed them away, shaking my head. I didn't know why this was bothering me so much. I knew what I was, and I'd been getting better. So it didn't matter. Right?

"LEO!" I heard a voice call. Through the building blizzard came a dark form, its hands shoved as deep as they could into the pockets in its bomber jacket. As it got closer, I realized exactly who it was peering out of that very familiar jacket. It was none other than Nico.

"What are you doing here?" I sniffled.

"It's freezing and snowing and you ran out. I came to find you, dumbass." Nico scoffed, taking my arm and hauling me to my feet. "Come on. Before you get frostbite or something."

"I'm fine. I don't want to go back yet," I grumbled, pulling out of his grip.

"Okay," Nico sighed, sitting down on the fountain side. "Then talk to me."

"About what?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were a pyromaniac?" Nico said, blunt as ever.

"I don't like that word," I scowled.

"Sorry," Nico said, sounding genuinely apologetic.

"I didn't want you to think less of me," I admitted.

"Why would I? Because you've been in a hospital?" he shrugged. "So have I. Five times. Twice for over three months. I'd show you my scars, but its way to cold." I froze.

"Wait…really?" I gasped. Nico nodded. "So…you don't think I'm insane?"

"I've known at least three other…people like you. They were normal people, with normal likes and dislikes and problems. They just didn't deal with them well. Same with you. I don't care about that. I just wish you'd told me. I can help you know," he smiled.

"I…how? I'm much better now. I spent a few years in a residential, which was not easy, because most don't like fire freaks," I frowned.

"You aren't a freak, Leo," Nico rolled his eyes. "And I wouldn't have called you Torch, because I get it now. I would've been able to help you when you get urges, because I get them too. For something else, but you know. The urges are the same. And you could've _talked_ to me, rather than be anxious anytime we got close to talking about fire or your past." I stared at Nico, shocked. "Now come on," he shivered, standing again, "Please can we go back?"

I swallowed, then did something I knew I shouldn't have, but I just couldn't help it. Nico was just so perfect and utterly kissable and standing right there, and we were chest to chest and breathing shallowly and he was _right there._

So I grabbed onto his face and pulled his lips down onto mine.

At first, Nico was still, in shock, but then he relaxed, his hands encircling my waist and pulling me flush against his body. His lips were curled into a smile as he pulled back, our foreheads still pressed together. I was panting, my face aflame, though his was equally flushed.

"Well," he said, laughter in his voice. I smiled, then chuckled, then burst into laughter, sagging against Nico's solid and sturdy chest. He held me, kissing my forehead. We stood there for a few minutes, until Nico nudged me and whispered into my ear, "I'm freaking _cold_, Leo. Mind if we go back to your apartment?" I laughed, but nodded.

We walked back, through the howling wind and freezing ice whipping against or bare cheeks, hand in hand.

And I couldn't have been happier.

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**Jeez look at that. Another crappy ending. I'm sorry guys. I hope that the ending at least made you a little happy, you fangirls/boys you. And for those of you who are wondering: Yes I do know pyromaniacs (Legitimate ones, so I know what I'm talking about) and about hospitals, and yes, he is a pyromaniac. I know, how unoriginal can I be, but tell me, did you have any other ideas!? (no really, tell me) It's PERFECT for them, anyways! So, please review, and I'll get the next chapter up in a few days. Expect a fight and New Year's Eve bonfires! That won't go wrong at all, will it?! ;) So yea. **

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**For those who didn't read: you missed a Christmas gathering and Jason telling Nico about Leo. Oh and a really c**


	5. The Hulk

**Chapter Five: the Hulk**

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**Hello my pretties! I know I just posted the last chapter, but you guys have the luck of liking a writer with WAY too much time on her hands to write. So you get TWO chapters at once! *bows* I'm good right? And for ****_once_**** I actually ****_like_**** what I wrote! So I hope you enjoy it too! **

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**Warning: Again, mentions of self-harm, and a meltdown/panic attack ish thing. Don't know what you call it. It, once again, is really not bad, but I like being safe. Chapter rundown at end. **

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We went back to the apartment, only to be barraged with questions from our friends and apologies from Jason. Hazel forced mugs of hot chocolate into our hands and made us sit with blankets on the couch.

It was snowing so bad, everyone stayed over. Hazel and Frank slept on the floor, Percy and Annabeth slept on the couch, curled up adorably. Jason slept with his girlfriend in his bed and Nico slept in my room, though I made him sit on the bed. We'd had _one_ kiss and not even a proper date yet. It still was taking me forever to fall asleep, though.

"Nico?" I whispered, rolling over on the bed to look down on where the boy was sleeping, his arm thrown over his eyes and his knees bent. "Are you awake?"

"I am now," he grunted, peeking up at my blushing face from beneath his arm. "What's up?"

"What are we now?" I asked, twisting the blanket nervously.

"What do you want to be?" he fired right back.

"Well… I don't know…" I whispered, blushing again. Nico smirked, sitting up and leaning close to my face.

"Well, when you figure it out, tell me, kay?" he grinned, kissing me. Before he could pull away, I grabbed onto his face and held him there, whining. He laughed, kissing me again. "You sure you don't know?"

"I…I do, I just…don't…want to go to fast?" I shrugged, looking down. "It's not that I don't want to be…or you to be…I just… I don't…"

"Have you ever had a boyfriend, Leo?" Nico asked, laughter in his dark eyes. I blushed but nodded. "Then yes. I will be your boyfriend." Nico kissed me again, once on the nose, then again on the lips. It was a long and slow kiss, one that had me melting from the warmth. It wasn't that Nico was particularly warm, it was just so _wonderful_ and perfect and so very, very, _Nico_. There was no other way to describe it other than melting as fire burned through my veins.

Nico pulled away, smiling at my totally dumbstruck expression. "Night, Leo," he said gently.

"Night. Boyfriend." I fell asleep with a big smile on my face.

Our friends had to stay over our place for three days, as the blizzard snowed us in for a while. When Percy, Jason and Nico finally managed to dig their way to the cleared road, it was a relief to everyone, as we were all getting sick of leftovers. I was ecstatic though, and only partially because I got to drool over my new boyfriend shoveling in one of Jason's tee-shirts.

It was two days to the bonfire.

When the day finally arrived, I was jumping up and down, running around the apartment singing off-key and jumping around like a maniac. Jason and Piper were getting worried about actually letting me go, seeing how worked up I was getting, but Nico assured them he'd watch over me.

We got into the car a little after eight and drove to the place where the bonfire was happening, on a cleared out basketball court way out in the countryside. The fire was already raging when we arrived, parking Piper's four wheel drive truck on the snow. I ran out, dragging Nico behind me.

The fire was spiraling into the night sky, glowing and crackling and melting the little snowflakes drifting through the air lazily, before they could die at the hiss of the flames. Nico was laughing at the expression on my face, and at the overly happy expressions I kept shooting him.

I was okay for a while, long enough that Piper and Jason began to relax, moving to talk with their other friends. A few came and talked to me and Nico, too, like Dakota and Lacy and Nyssa, a friend I knew from my classes. Nico stayed on the edge, far from the fire and people, as though he was afraid of them. I convinced him to get closer though, saying he'd freeze so far from the flames.

Beer was passed around, though both Nico and I didn't have any, sticking to the cans of root beer and diet coke. Percy came up to us at one point, (when'd he even get here) tipsy and utterly drunk, his girlfriend following behind him, her eyes rolling as she talked to a guy I think was named Malcom and Will, who flashed my boyfriend a huge grin.

"Do you know Will?" I asked him.

"We dated for a little while, back in high school," Nico shrugged. "He was my first boyfriend." I nodded, opening my mouth to say something, but all words were torn from my throat when I saw what Percy and another drunk, Clarisse, I think, were doing.

They'd grabbed flaming sticks and were waving them around wildly, much to the dismay and annoyance of their friends and the other people. Clarisse was passing out the torches to the other people, while Percy was swaying to the music that was blaring from the speakers on the back of someone's truck.

"Leo, I think we should grab Jason and Piper and go," Nico said. I ignored him, watching the fire grow and light up the sky. "Leo. Leo. Come on, Leo, let's go to the car." I began walking towards the fire, only to be jerked back by Nico's hand on my arm. I stared at him, getting angry.

"Let me go," I growled.

"Leo. Knock it off. We need to go," Nico said urgently, his voice stern and strong. I fought against him as he pulled me to his chest, but the boy was stronger. I could see Jason and Piper struggling to get to us through the crowd.

No! They'd take me away! I didn't want to leave! The fire…it was so pretty! It was _everywhere_, the sparks and the light dancing across my vision. I whined, elbowing Nico in the sternum and making him release me. I could hear him and Jason and Piper yelling at me, but I was smaller, able to weave through the crowd much easier than them.

I made it to the bonfire, holding my hand so close I could feel it searing my skin. My fingers brushed the bright heat, the flames licking my skin as I laughed. I felt a hand on my shoulder, pulling me back again.

"No! Let me touch! I want to touch!" I screamed, kicking and twisting until they released me. I ran back towards the flames, grabbing a burning stick and swinging it. I just stared down at the flames as they ate along the wood until it was batted out of my hands and to the ground. Boots killed the fire as hands pulled me away and back towards the parked truck. Drunk party goers were still laughing and swinging their torches around, oblivious to the drama unfolding.

I hit one of them, knocking their torch into the big pile of dried timber waiting to be added to the bonfire. I grinned, waiting for the pile to light up, but it was taking too long, and by the time it was getting started, someone had thrown their jacket over the flames, choking them. I screamed, fighting and trying to go back, trying to rekindle the light, but my friends were wrestling me into the cab of the truck, and driving away, away from the fire and the flames and the gasoline that would've set that stack of wood blazing.

When the bonfire finally faded from my view, I slowly sat back down on the couch, staring blankly out the window, oblivious to the commotion in the car. I kept on hearing my name being called, but I wouldn't, couldn't, make myself respond to it. I fell asleep against a strong arm, rubbing my face into the smell of smoke and rain that clung to the jacket.

When I woke up, I was in my bed, still in my clothes from the previous night. My hands were wrapped in gauze and screamed in protest every time I tried to move them or put pressure on them. My head hurt too, which was only made worse by the yelling outside my room. It was still dark, so I figured we hadn't been home long.

I crawled out of my bed, opening my door a crack. Annabeth and Jason were there, yelling at a completely stoned Percy. Piper was trying to calm them down. Will was there too, talking to Nico. They all froze when they saw me in the door.

"Leo," Jason said, moving to stop me from leaving my room.

"What's going on?" I asked, my voice cracking, though whether it was from panic or smoke inhalation, I didn't know. "Why is everyone here? What's going on?!"

"Calm down, Leo," Nico said, nudging Jason out of the way. "Come on, let's go back into your room." He sat me down on the bed, where I shivered and struggled to pull a blanket over my shoulders. Nico helped me, pulling my hands away from the blanket.

"Do you remember what happened?" he asked gently. I shook my head, my eyes wide. "You don't remember the bonfire?" I froze, opening my mouth silently as the memories slowly filled back in. I collapsed, my shoulders hunch up around my lowered head as I sobbed quietly. Nico pulled me to his chest, stroking my hair until I'd cried out.

"I'm s-sorry, Ni-ico. I-I didn't m-mean it!" I hiccupped, shaking. "I-I was tr-rying to be g-good!"

"I know," Nico assured me. "It was Percy and Clarisse's fault for pulling out the torches. You were doing wonderfully before then. I'm so proud of you."

"Really?" I gasped, looking up in surprise.

"Of course. When I'm feeling really bad, if I have access to a razor, I cut. Not much I can do to stop it, though I do try. You were surrounded by your temptation, and you were perfectly fine for a long time. I'm so impressed." I blushed and whispered a thank you. I snuggled into Nico's side, sighing.

"I don't want you to cut," I said after a long silence broken only by the raised voices in the room over.

"And I don't want you to burn your hands on the flames," Nico said, balancing one of my bandaged hands on his knee. "You aren't Superman. You aren't indestructible."

"I'm not green either," I whispered, smiling slightly. Nico chuckled.

"But you are strong." Nico tickled my side, and I laughed, arching into him. He grabbed my chin and pulled me into a long, slow kiss that had me burning in a way that was far more pleasant than the fire. I sighed, content, when he pulled away. Nico laid me down on the bed before curling up under the covers with me.

"Go to sleep. You've had a long day, hmm?" I nodded, eyes already half closed. I fell asleep curled against his chest, breathing in the smell that was purely Nico. I knew I'd need to face Jason's wrath when I woke, but for now, I was going to rest my exhausted body and sleep next to the guy I'd been crushing on for months.

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**AND I LIKE MY ENDING! Dam I'm good. ;) So I hope you enjoy, and please review. And I know I promised a fight, and I guess I kind of delivered? So, sorry about that. Next chapter will have Nico and Leo's first official date (unless you count the bonfire, but I don't since it went crappy) Though I can't promise I won't cause drama at this date… I probably won't, so expect fluff and feels. ****J****Please review! (do I sound desperate enough? No? lets add one more…) pleeeeeeeeeeeeeasssssse review! (I think I am sufficiently desperate enough, yea?)**

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**For those who didn't read: for starters, unless you are seriously sensitive, go read it, for gods sake. It's ****_really_**** not bad, I'm just ****_really_**** paranoid. But anyways…The guys get snowed in and Leo and Nico are official. Leo goes to the bonfire and flips out and burns his hands. And Percy gets drunk. Annabeth and Jason yell at Percy and Nico is proud of Leo. Did I get it all? Oh! They also sleep together. (In the same bed, I mean! Not ****_together_**** together!) **


	6. Black Widow Baby

**Chapter six: Black Widow**

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**Hello my Pretties! So sorry this one took so long! I really tried to work on it, but I couldn't think of the perfect date for these two! I wound up just doing another movie thing. I know, I'm horrible! *Cries in corner* I'm sorry. But, this one is wondrously light and fluffy and dam adorable if you ask me. Just saying, mild swearing, but this is rated T, so you should've expected it. Please enjoy!**

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"Leo…" a voice gently shook me awake. "Leo, come on, Leo, it's like noon." I groaned, rolling away from the voice and the hand shaking my shoulder.

"I wanna sleep," I mumbled, my eyes still sealed shut.

"Leo, I'm getting up, whether you come with me or not," the voice warned.

"Nooooo," I whined, turning again and grabbing his hand as the bed creaked with movement. "Stayyyyyyy." The person sighed, but sat back down on the bed. I grinned, happy in my win with my eyes still shut. But then my eyes shot open when I felt cool lips press to mine. I gasped, but leaned into the kiss, wrapping my arms around the strong neck. Nico bit my lip, nuzzling my nose.

"It's time to get up," he said, pulling away. I groaned loudly, but rolled out of the bed, trudging over to the bathroom to shower. Nico was laughing as I closed the door, something I pointedly ignored. Thankfully my shower woke me up, and also brought me back to the events of the night before.

I left the bathroom after trying and failing to wrestle my hair into a somewhat presentable mop to get dressed in a big baggy stained orange shirt and a pair of holey jeans. I needed a haircut, but I honestly couldn't be bothered. Waiting for me with a plate of food on the counter was my boyfriend, and my best friend. Who was not looking happy. Great.

"Let's get this over with," I sighed, looking up at Jason with my best kicked puppy look. "I'm sorry, Jason. I really tried last night. I'm sorry." He scowled, but the tension in his shoulders slowly bled out.

"What were you thinking, Leo? You should've left when you started slipping. Or used the skills that they taught you," Jason sighed, sitting down on one of the stools with his arms crossed over his chest. I winced. This was worse, almost. I would rather have him yell at me than this calm, disappointed talk.

"I did use my skills, it just… it wasn't like it slowly happened, the torches just came up, and it was like everything crashed. It was one slip up, Jason. I'll be fine. Now we just know I'm not quite ready for that," I whispered, taking my plate and sitting next to Nico, who took my hand and stroked the back of it slowly.

"Alright. I guess there goes Fourth of July fireworks, huh?" he chuckled weakly. I nodded. "Okay. Well, I'm going to visit Piper's mom today, so I'm going to go get ready."

"Her mom is that fashion designer lady, right?" Nico asked. Jason nodded.

"Wish me luck. That lady is always trying to change my clothes. And my hair. And get me contacts. And give me accessories. Ugh…" he groaned, hanging his head. "Why did I agree to this again?"

"She's nearby for once, and you can't deny your girlfriend?" I offered. Jason shot me a glare before disappearing into his room to get ready. "So what do you want to do today? If you want to do something, that is. It's cool if you don't," I hurried to say, looking up shyly at Nico.

"I was hoping we could stop by my apartment first, so I can change clothes and shower, but then we can do something. Any ideas?" he said. I shook my head, wincing a little. "Okay. We'll think of something. Come on. Jason already said we could use his car." I nodded and followed Nico down to the falling apart car parked on the street. Nico drove us to his building, laughing when I told him I still didn't have my license, but he sobered when I reminded him it was because none of my foster parents would teach me and I spent a few years in a residential.

Nico led me up to his apartment, not seeming to notice my anxiety. This was my first time actually seeing his apartment, and I was really nervous. I didn't think he was going to have a coffin of something like that. I was just nervous.

And for completely no good reason, I realized when I walked through the door. It was a perfectly normal apartment that was actually nicer than mine. He had a tan carpet covering the walls, dark wine colored walls with white trim encircling a meager array of furniture. He really only had one white couch and stacks of books sitting on sagging shelves.

There was a little kitchen in the corner, the carpet giving way to white and blue tiles that matched what I could see of the bathroom. The kitchen seemed bare, and I wondered just how much my boyfriend actually ate. The door to his bedroom was wide open, revealing a black walls room with heavy blood red curtains. The low lying bed was covered with black and white blankets and there was a whole milieu of band and movie posters lining the walls.

"What do you think?" Nico asked, and I was shocked to see he was just as nervous as I was.

"It's nice. Really nice actually. How do you afford it?" I asked, shocked.

"My dad pays for my college tuition and textbooks, so all my pay from the bookstore goes to this and clothes, but I don't need to buy much. I haven't grown for years," Nico admitted. "And I know the landlady. Her name is Hestia, and she's an old friend of my family."

"What does your dad do?" I asked.

"He's a really successful lawyer. He deals with, like, superstars and stuff. And my step mom is a model," Nico laughed. "Do you know how weird it is to see pictures of your step mom half naked on magazines in the supermarket and stuff?"

"I've heard quite a bit about it from Piper, actually. Her dad's famous, you know," I smirked.

"McLean, right? My dad helped him out once. That's how I met Piper," Nico nodded. My mouth made a little O of understanding. "I'm going to go shower. Make yourself at home. All my comic books are over there," he pointed to a shelf lined with thin books and a multitude of action figures. I grinned and went to the shelf, pulling out a stack and sitting curled up on the couch.

After an exceptionally short time, Nico came back out, hands in the front pockets of his jeans. He was wearing a black tee shirt with a black leather vest over it, his boots as always on his feet. His hair was hanging limp and wet around his pale face. I loved looking at him, seeing how tough and dangerous he looked, because around me, he was so gentle and kind and I knew it was all _mine_.

"What are you reading?" he asked, laying his arms on the back of the couch and leaning over my shoulder.

"Superman," I grinned, leaning up to kiss the underside of his chin. He purred happily, wrapping his arms around me and pressing his face next to mine. "You have a lot more comics than me."

"I know the owner of a comic book store, and he gives me a lot of discounts." Nico shrugged.

"You know a lot of people," I pointed out. Nico laughed, and pulled back.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go. I know what I want to do today."

"Are you going to tell me, or…?" I smirked. He shook his head, laughing.

"It's a surprise," he gave me a wink before leaving the apartment and leaving me to scramble after him. He told me to close my eyes as we drove away from his apartment in Jason's car, smacking my arm lightly when he caught me peeking. After what felt like an eternity, the car stopped, and Nico got out, telling me to keep my eyes closed and wait. He got back in a few minutes later, handing me a big bucket to hold onto.

"Is this popcorn?" I gasped, my eyes still closed. "Are we at a drive in?"

"Goddam, Leo, you ruined my surprise," Nico groaned. "Open your eyes, I guess."

"I thought these were only seasonal," I smirked, looking around at the completely deserted parking lot in front of the screen, which slowly flickered to life. Nico was playing around with the stereo until sound suddenly blasted through.

"They normally are, but this one runs year-round. I don't know why," Nico shrugged. "Now eat your popcorn." I snorted, but obediently ate. The movie was actually quite boring, and my stupid ADHD brain absolutely refused to focus on it. So I turned to face Nico.

And promptly threw a piece of popcorn at his face.

"What. The. Hell?" he growled, turning to face me, doing his best to act scary. "Did you just throw popcorn at me? At _me_?" I tried to keep a straight face, but I simply couldn't hold it in, bursting into wild laughter. "Stop laughing!" he snarled, lips twitching upwards.

"I-I c-can't!" I snorted. "You're so cute!"

"That's it! You absolutely can't call me cute! That is off limits!" Nico laughed, jumping over the center console to tickle me, taking handfuls of popcorn and throwing it into my hair. I was laughing so hard my sides hurt as I dumped the whole bucket onto Nico's head.

"Oh, gross, Leo! Now I'm all covered in grease and butter!" he groaned, "You are going to pay for this!"

"How?" I asked, snickering. Nico gave me a wicked grin before pulling me into a kiss. I gasped, but melted against him, wrapping my arms around his neck as our lips moved against each other. Nico's tongue brushed against my bottom lip, asking entrance into my mouth.

I let him in, moaning into the kiss as we explored each other's mouths.

It was absolutely the best and most buttery kiss I've ever had.

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**That ending sucked, didn't it? Wow. Okay, a few things to cover here and I hope I don't forget anything. First off: you guys need to make a decision. The next chapter will depend on you guys. It can either be more fluff, and a continuation of this date (I'm thinking dinner and Jason getting pissed about the mess in his car) OR it can be all angst (What happens when Nico cuts? How will Leo react? Ooooh, Aaaaah. XD) and we leave the date at this. You are getting the angsty bit anyways, it's just a matter of when. So, please review and let me know! Also, I wanted to clarify that I think I said this wrong a few chapters ago: Nico is Leo's first boyfriend. I noticed I said it wrong before and it's been bothering me. Doesn't matter much, but you know. Please Review, and I hope to get the next chapter out soon!**


	7. Spiderman

**Chapter Seven: Spiderman**

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**Hello my pretties! So sorry for the long wait. I've been busy with Christmas prep and cookies and stuff. ;) So the winner of the vote: FLUFF! Though since only like two of you voted, it was more on me. So yea. I decided fluff, but realized I really need to go on more dates, since I have no idea what else to do but a movie. We'll see how this goes. Please REVIEW and ENJOY! (capitalized because some of you like to ignore the fact that I've been begging. Like really, you follow, favorite, but don't review? Come on guys….)**

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**Warning: swearing. I'm not doing a summary, though, because it really isn't to, too bad. Like, it's at a middle school bus bad, so if you survived that, you can survive this. Also, we start building up to when they do the do. I'm keeping this T, but it will happen, so brace yourself for some not so subtle references in the next chapter or two. ;) If you guys are smutty fans, I could give you a bonus chapter. (wink, wink)**

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After the kiss finally ended, with me whining pitifully and Nico laughing at me, Nico slid back into his seat, settling back to watch the movie again and eat popcorn from the seat. I was still bored, though, so I crawled into his map, straddling his legs as I looked up at him with my best puppy dog eyes.

"Can we please do something else?" I begged. "I'm bored. I've seen this movie a ton of times!"

"It's Spiderman. I thought you loved Spiderman," Nico scowled.

"Yea, but it's the third one…" I whined. "The Venom hasn't even showed up yet. It's just Parker being a dick." Nico snorted, kissing my nose.

"You are adorable," he rolled his eyes. "And incredibly ADHD." I stuck my tongue out at him, but shrugged in admittance. "Fine. Want me to make you dinner?" I nodded, and scrambled back into my seat. Nico drove me back to his apartment, where he promptly washed his face of all the butter. I got a weird thought about me licking it off, but that just made me blush furiously. No way in hell I'd ever bring that up.

I sat on the couch reading a comic book while Nico worked in the kitchen. But it was taking _forever_, so I decide to go be helpful. I walked into the kitchen, marveling at the sight of my bad ass boyfriend dressed in a pale yellow apron cutting onions while chewing gum. To surprise him, I walked up and wrapped my arms around his waist, laying my chin on his shoulder. Or I tried, but I am short. So I wound up just burying my nose into his shirt, breathing in the smell that was purely Nico.

"Hey, love. What are you doing?" Nico asked, putting down the knife to turn around, pulling me close to his chest.

"Wondering if I can help. You were taking a while," I smiled, nuzzling my way into the crook of his neck.

"Want to set the table?" he asked. I nodded, and slipped out of his arms, somewhat reluctantly. I had to do a lot of digging around in Nico's kitchen before I found the plates and silverware, though I did find at least three bottles of hot sauce.

"Do you like spicy food?" I asked, setting out the table for two.

"Yea, I guess. Not really though," Nico shrugged.

"Then why do you have three bottles?"

"Oh, yea, about that," Nico winced. "I forget what I have here and where I put it, so I wind up buying stuff I don't really need."

"Really?" I laughed as Nico nodded, giving me a sheepish look. "Wow. Jason is paranoid that we waste our money, so we have lists of everything that we have in the house, so we never do that."

"Sounds a little OCD," Nico noted.

"More than a little. He is going to be so pissed off about the car." I snorted.

"Nice. It's your fault, you know," my boyfriend turned around, setting out the meal. I took my seat, watching as he took off the apron. In the corner, I saw a little embroidered name. Bianca.

"That's Bianca's apron?" I asked, nodding to it as I dug into the meal. It was spaghetti and meatballs. Nico's Italian was showing through.

"Yea. She loved to cook, since mom was always too sick to do it for us. She taught me," Nico nodded. "I still use it, because she would hate if it was just packed into a box."

"That's sweet. Do you still speak Italian?" I asked.

"Sì, certamente," he nodded.

"No tengo idea de lo que eso significa," I sighed, leaning back. Nico raised a pierced eyebrow, smirking slightly.

"I guess I know how annoying it was to my teachers when I first moved now. Care to tell me what you said?"

"I have no idea what you just said," I rolled my eyes. "Para alguien tan lindo, usted es un poco estúpido."

"I heard stupid, and am offended," Nico pointed his fork at me. I laughed, and nodded, clapping slowly.

"God job, Neeks!" He scowled, but the smile in his eyes betrayed his bad boy routine yet again. Nico reached over, stabbing a meatball off my plate and eating it whole. "Hey!" I protested, taking one of his. He frowned, and stole a forkful of pasta. So I took one from his plate. We wound up just eating off each other's plates, tomato sauce spilling everywhere. Our fun ended when Nico spilled his little glass of wine.

"Aww," I whined. "I was going to drink that, bobo." Nico gave me a sly little grin, before tipping my glass over and onto my pants. I yelped, jumping up and out of my seat. "Niiicooooo." Nico laughed, standing to go get towels.

He cleaned up his mess before walking over to where I was still standing, kneeling in front of me to press the towel to my stained pants, just a little too close to a certain area. When he stood, smirking in a way that let me know he knew exactly how close he'd been, he gave me a kiss on my very, very red nose, laughing to himself as he threw the towel into a hamper.

"You didn't do a very good job," I frowned, looking down on my pants that would definitely need Piper's help getting that stain out, and the couple of splatter marks on my white shirt.

"Sorry. Want to go home so you can change? Or do you want some of my clothes?" Nico asked, seeming oblivious to the way my face darkened again.

"I-I'll take some of your clothes, I guess," I whispered. Nico nodded, leading me into his room. It was dark, but for some reason, it didn't seem scary or uncomfortable. It was just Nico's room. Which was a wonderful thing in and of itself.

Nico handed me a red tee-shirt with the logo for some band so faded, I couldn't read it and a pair of loose black sweatpants before leaving the room, closing the door slightly. I changed as quickly as I could, trying not to focus on the fact that I was in _Nico's_ bedroom, putting on _Nico's_ clothes, leaning on the bed that _Nico_ slept in every night for support.

I had to roll up the pant legs few times before they were short enough for me to be capable to walk in, but other than that the clothes were perfect. And I do mean perfect, as they smelled like Nico and were warm and my cheeks were burning so bad I thought I'd burst into flame. Just as I was leaving the room, though, I noticed something hanging on the mirror above his dresser.

It was a few pictures. Some were of Jason and Piper and Percy and the whole gang. Others were of Will and a few were of a woman with dark hair and deep laugh lines who I guessed was his mother. There was also one with a girl who looked remarkably like Nico, who I guessed was his sister, Bianca. There was a few others of her, but in most she had her hands over her face. I also saw Hazel with Nico in quite a few. But the one person who had the most pictures of them up on that mirror?

Me.

There was pictures of me with Percy and with Jason, pictures from when we'd been snowed in and I'd stolen Nico's phone to take selfies. There was a few with me blushing beside Nico or Piper and a number where I was laughing with bright eyes, always looking or reaching for someone out of the frame.

"You okay in there?" Nico asked, knocking on the door.

"Y-yea," I said, still looking at the pictures.

"You sure?" he asked, worry in his voice as he opened the door. When he saw what I was looking at, his mouth made a little O, and he walked further into the room, resting his chin on my head, his arms around my neck.

"Why do you have so many pictures of me?" I asked.

"So whenever I get sad, I can just look up, and there you are. You make me happy, Leo. So very happy. Why wouldn't I want a bunch of pictures of you?" Nico asked, nuzzling my neck. I blushed, turning to kiss him hard.

"I don't have any pictures of you," I pouted, pulling away.

"Let's remedy that," Nico kissed me again, reaching into my back pocket to pull out my phone. He held it out, snapping a picture before I could protest. When he showed it to me, I reached out to delete it. It looked horrible. I was blushing deeply, with my mouth open in protest, while Nico was next to me looking like a goddamn angel of the dark. Not fair.

"Nuh-uh. You wanted pictures of me. So here," Nico handed me my phone, taking my hand as he led me back out to the truck. "Now come on. It's getting late, and I don't need Jason to threaten me again."

"Again?!" I gasped. Nico laughed, completely avoiding my question.

I was so going to kill my best friend.

If he didn't kill me first.

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**Okay, so there we go. Great ending right? *cries in corner* I hope you liked it! Next chapter will have a time skip and ANGST! But I promise, it will end out beautifully and fluffy and will make all you pretty little fan girls and boys go as;lfhasdfh. ;) promise. So be patient, I might not get it out for a few weeks, since Christmas and yea. But I will try to get it out soon! Also, I'm too lazy to translate the Spanish and Italian, I just wanted to have fun with the fact that they both are bilingual. Just type it into Google Translate if you are that curious. It's what I did. (sorry, sorry I know I'm horrible. Please, if I got it wrong, let me know! I speak minimal Spanish, and no Italian!)**

**If you want that bonus chapter or to request anything, please shoot me a PM or a review! Review anyways! Whoo! **


	8. Catwoman

**Chapter Eight: Catwoman**

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**Hello my pretties! I hope you had a good holidays! I am a horrible person! Want to know why?! This chapter is two pages long! Whoo! And it is all angst and sad stuff that will make you hate me! Double Whoo! And the only reason this isn't longer?! I WANTED TO DRAW OUT THE PAIN! Yes. I am terrible. A horrible, horrible (as far as you know) human being, who is enjoying this way too much! *cries in corner* I hate myself…..**

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**Warning: Potentially triggering stuff, mild swearing. The real triggers come next chapter. You've been warned. I will put summary at end. **

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The weeks I spent with Nico passed as though in a dream. A perfectly wonderful dream that left me smiling and laughing and just happy like never before. It couldn't have been better. I had my classes starting up again, where I spent time with my friends, so close they could've been family, and machines which made more sense to me than those friends. I spent the evenings with Jason or Nico or one of our other friends, always smiling, and for once, it was for real. It was surreal.

Until it all came crashing down on me.

"I'm breaking up with you."

Four words, and they ruined everything. They destroyed everything. They slammed the gate shut just when it'd been opened for the first time. What was even worse? They were spoken by the one person I'd ever let inside those gates.

It was Nico.

"I'm breaking up with you."

"W-why?" I squeaked, whirling to face him. We were walking down a path through the trees, the melting snow turning the ground around us to slush in the spring air.

"Because, Leo, that's why," Nico said. His body was stiff and straight, his jaw clenched as he gazed at me with eyes like obsidian. Hard and cold. Solid and unwavering. This had to be a joke. It had to be. But it wasn't.

"You can't just say something like that!" I cried. "Not without a dam good reason! Is it someone else? Did I do something wrong?"

"No," Nico hurried to say. "You didn't do anything, Leo." I heard his words, but they didn't process, my anxiety spiking sky high as my thoughts spiraled out of control. "Leo!" Nico's hands slammed down on my shoulders, jerking me back to earth. "I'm speaking the truth. It's not your fault. It isn't."

"Then why?" I whispered quietly, so to mask the trembling in my voice. "I-I thought things were going good. I thought things were good. I thought…." Nico stepped back, and turned away from me.

"Don't worry about it Leo. It's none of your business anymore. Goodbye." Nico began to walk away, and I let him. I was frozen in my spot, staring down at the leaves and mud. His footsteps faded, until I was left alone in the woods. Alone…

My knees gave out, and I fell to the ground, fingers digging into the mud and leaves. The tears began to fall then, disappearing into the ground as my sobs rose into the air, with no one but the trees and birds to hear them.

My jeans were getting soaked through, my face and hair surely a mess, but I didn't care. No one was around to see it. I was alone. Alone again, just like in the foster homes. Just like at my aunt's. Just like at the hospitals where everyone, even the staff, looked at me like I was a freak. Just like at the residential. Just like when I first came to this college, meeting all of Jason's friends, soon to become my friends, for the first time. I was alone.

My tears began to burn, my hands clenching into fists. I screamed, throwing mud at the trees. Gasping breaths tore from my burning throat as I ran through the woods. I didn't know where I was going, what I was doing. I just knew I was running, running from my friends, from Jason, from Nico, from those four words still pounding away in my brain. I ran, just like I had from all six of my foster homes, until I came to a gas station out in the middle of nowhere. Through the window, I spotted the only true comfort I'd ever really had.

So I entered the station, digging out change from my pocket. I left quickly, thankful for the clerk's utter lack of a fuck to give. I ducked back into the woods, collecting ever dry twig I could find, throwing them into a heap. Then I flicked open the lighter, and watched the flames grow.

I sat in the mud beside them, the frenzy I'd felt a few moments ago dying. A strange deadness seemed to seep into my bones, an icy hole not even the flames could melt. And even if they could, what would that do? The hole would still be there. It'd never heal. It was like how I'd felt after Calypso, my ex-girlfriend, had broken up with me when she found out about my fire problem. How I felt after my mother died, after every one of those nights spent shuddering in the cold of sewers with no roof or walls to shield me.

I was empty.

The flames slowly died, as I didn't bother to feed them. I just sat there. My phone was buzzing wildly, but I never checked it. Not until I heard the special ringtone that I'd assigned to Nico, the batman theme song. I pulled it out, and stared at the screen, lit up with that first picture I'd taken with Nico in his apartment.

And then I threw the phone against a tree, the crack resonating throughout the woods and through my empty chest. My tears began to flow once more, my body racked with sobs. I keeled over in the mud, clutching my sides in some vain attempt to hold myself together.

And that was how Jason and Percy found me: covered in mud with dried tears caked on my face.

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**MWAHAHAHA I'M SO, SO, SO SORRY! *cries again because her own writing is too terrible, quality and content wise* Next chapter comes really soon, maybe even today soon! I am drawing this out, but trust me, this story will end well, so please don't leave me because of feels! *begs on knees with puppy eyes* Pwease? Please Review and tell me what you think (I will accept any criticism/anger) Also, give me any predictions for what will happen next, and even any requests for later chapters! ;) **

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**Summary: Nico breaks up with Leo, for some untold reason that I am totally purposefully withholding for a big reveal later. ;) Leo creates a fire, but it doesn't do what he wants it to do. Lots of angst, lots of feels, and ends with Percy and Jason finding him in the woods. **

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**A/N Completely random, but does this remind you of anything like twilight? I don't know why, but rereading it I got that... interesting...IGNORE THIS!**


	9. Superman

**Chapter Nine: Superman**

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**"****She's talking to angels, counting the stars/Making a wish on a passing car…" Sorry I just felt the need to start this with a song lyric. (Waiting for Superman by Daughtry BTW) In this chapter, expect feels, laughter, more feels, anger at me, more feels, and more anger. I apologize a million times. Please R&amp;R, and I'm going to go hide before the onslaught of anger I am bound to get over this ending. But let me just tell you: this chapter was always going to happen, and always going to end like this. It's been coming. Probably only one chapter left, and an epilogue. And I don't think they are getting to do the do in this. Sorry….**

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**Warning: Mentions of gay sex, starvation, and cutting/suicide attempts. Please, please do not read if these will trigger you. Summary at bottom. Just saying, the cutting/suicidal shit is going to get really bad in the next chapter. Just warning you. I hope I don't lose any readers because of this. I promise, more fluff is coming as well as a happy ending. **

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I created three fires that week. And absolutely none of them helped me in any way, shape, or form. I eventually just gave up on the flames that have for some dam reason abandoned me, and sat in my room, curled up on my bed with the lights turned off.

I didn't go to class, and I didn't eat, no matter how much Jason tried to feed me. He tried getting me to read a comic or a book, or watch a show, or talk to my therapist, but I refused to do anything. I didn't speak, didn't sleep, didn't even attempt a smile. I just lay there.

Jason and Piper and Percy and even Hazel tried talking to me. I got the get right back on the horse speech from Jason, the other fishes in the sea, but I know it hurts from Piper, the quick and simple, sorry man from Percy, and from Hazel, I got the speech that sent my anxiety flying once more.

She told me about how she couldn't get in touch with Nico. She tried his phone, tried his door, tried his teachers, but no dice. He was locked in his apartment so tightly, not even his landlady could get in.

And even though he told me it was none of my business, not anymore, I worried.

I knew Nico's past. I'd seen the scars. I knew he cut. And I knew how quickly I'd resorted back to old habits. I couldn't blame Nico if he did the same. I began to really worry when the one week mark passed, with still no sign. I knew he'd been hospitalized before. What if…what if he was dead?

I tried talking myself out of it, but I simply couldn't. It simply didn't make sense. Nico broke up with me, not the other way around. He chose to do this to both me and himself. So why was he reacting like this? Did he simply not want to see our friends? Or did he regret it?

Did he want me back? Did I have a chance? Did I?

That Monday, Jason literally kicked me out of my bed, knocking me out of the constant circling of what ifs that circled my mind. I sat on the floor, my blankets twisted around my legs as I looked up at him with a blank expression.

"Get your ass up and into that bathroom right now." Jason said calmly, crossing his arms.  
"You are taking a shower and then you are getting dressed and you are going to eat breakfast and go to your classes. Do you understand me?"

"Why should I?" I whispered, voice cracking from disuse.

"Because you had a life, one you worked hard to create, before you began to date Nico, and you do have one after you break up." Jason was unwavering, standing between me and my bed.

"I don't want to," I said, looking down.

"I know you don't. But you need to."

"Why?"

"It's not healthy to stay in here. You haven't eaten in a week, Leo. And you've always been scrawny and underweight. You can't do a week long fast. You need to pick back up the pieces of your life," Jason told me, kneeling by my side, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"But I've lost such a big piece of me. How can I make the others fit when that one is missing?" I whispered. "He completed me, Jay. It's cheesy, but it's true. He completed me in ways not even fire could, and now I don't know what to do."

"I know, Leo. Try focusing on one thing at a time. For now, focus on your physical health. Eat. Shower. Sleep. Then work on your mental health, and go to school and see your friends and build again. And talk to your therapist. She'll help you with the third step, your emotional health. Please, Leo? Try again?" Jason pleaded me. I sighed, but nodded. I didn't want my friends to worry.

So I did what Jason said. Or tried to. I actually collapsed in the shower, too weak from lack of sleep and food and water to stand. So Jason had to come in and help me back into clothes before slipping me into back into the bed. He had to help me eat, before I slid down the pillows, sound asleep.

I woke up, finding Piper waiting beside my bed. She told me that Jason had left for class and asked her to watch me.

"It's not worth destroying your life for a guy," she told me.

"He wasn't just any guy. He was Nico," I whispered.

"I know. Did you ever think about marriage?" Piper asked.

"Well…we've only been together for a few months now. So never seriously, of course. But I have thought about it. I couldn't-can't- imagine anyone else but him. So logically to me, that would mean marriage at some point," I smiled sadly, looking down at my clasped hands.

"Did you ever do the do?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows. I blushed deeply, jerking my head up in surprise. '

"WHAT?! NO!" I cried, shocked. "I don't even…I don't even know how to do it…with a guy…" I blushed deeply, unable to meet Piper's eyes. She laughed, but slowly realized I was actually serious.

"Wait, really?" she gaped, shocked. I nodded, still blushing deeply and praying I wasn't about to get the talk from Piper about gay sex. "Jeez, Leo…Well, I guess it's a good thing Nico knows…" she sighed, shaking her head at me. My mouth dropped.

"Wait, he's not a virgin?!" I gasped. "How do you know?!"

"Well, he's been out for a while," she shrugged. "He's had other boyfriends. And he's hot. Like, I'd-hit-on-him-if-he-wasn't-gay level hot. There is no way he is a virgin. It's just a matter of whether or not he's topped-"

"OK THANKS BUT NO THANKS!" I practically screamed, shoving Piper off her perch. She was laughing hysterically, leaving the room to get me breakfast, supposedly. I think she was probably texting Jason about my newest revelation. I on the other hand, was stuck thinking about my boyfriend topping someone who was definitely NOT me and… dam.

Before my thoughts could go too far, I swung my legs off the bed, shakily getting dressed in some clothes I think were clean before meeting Piper outside.

"You didn't need to get out of bed," she frowned, handing me a bowl of oatmeal. I scowled down at it, but obediently ate, ignoring her statement. "Whatever," she sighed. "I have class at four. Hazel is going to swing by. You two are going to Nico's."

"What?" I choked on my food, spraying oatmeal out of my mouth.

"Oh gross, Leo!" Piper cried, wiping herself clean with a napkin before answering my question. "She hasn't been in contact with him since the…since it happened. She's freaking out, especially knowing his past. She wants you to come with her, partially because he may open up for you, and partially because if he doesn't, you can pick the lock."

"That I can," I nodded. "And that I will. I'm worried about him, Pipes."

"I know. We all are," she ruffled my hair, scoffing at my cries of protest. We spent the rest of the day sitting on the couch where Piper helped me catch up on my homework while we totally did not watch the first three Star Wars movies.

Hazel came at 3:30, releasing Piper. We'd barely said goodbye when I was rushed out to Hazel's car and on the road to Nico's.

"Do you think he's…." I asked, unable to finish.

"I…I don't know. I saw him once, you know. He was half dead. There was blood everywhere. It was…horrible. I don't want you to see that, Leo, which is why I hate asking you to do this. But I need you. I'm sorry," she sighed, unable to meet my eyes. I laid my hand on her arm.

"It's okay, Hazel. It's not like I've never seen half dead people before. And you'll need me if…if he is like that. But he's fine, right? Probably just cooped up in his room like I was!" I forced a smile onto my face, my voice so high and laden with anxiety it was blatantly obvious that I was trying to comfort Hazel. Or me. Or, most likely, both of us.

"Right." She said, defeat in her voice and posture, like the world was crushing her to the ground. "If he did…I won't be able to live with it. If I'd come to him earlier…I should've picked the lock myself. Or broken the door open. Or-"

"Hazel," I interrupted. "It'll be okay. He's fine. He's got to be." She nodded, movements stiff and jerky. I looked up, and realized we were right next to Nico's building, the car still running in its parking spot. Hazel took her keys out, breathing deeply as we exited the car. I was done trying to comfort her. It took too much to keep myself calm.

We walked up to his room, and I was reminded of another time, what felt like eons ago, where I'd been standing here, expecting coffins or something from Nico's apartment. I smiled weakly, before reality came crashing back down on me.

"Nico!" Hazel pounded on the door. "Nico, its Hazel, your sister! Come on, Nico open the door!" We waited a few minutes, Hazel repeatedly yelling at the door before she looked at me with despair and desperation in her eyes.

"NICO!" I yelled, hitting the door. "Nico, you better open up right now, or I'm taking your door down! Nico, its Leo! Please, please open the doors!" Nothing happened.

"Just pick the lock, Leo," Hazel said, her voice tight. I nodded, kneeling down and pulling out a bobby pin I'd snatched from Piper earlier on. I made quick work of the lock before standing again, resting my shaking hand on the doorknob before opening the door.

The apartment looked just like it always had, kept perfectly clean and orderly. Hazel and I slowly walked in, eyes wide and scanning. We automatically split up, Hazel checking the bedroom while I checked the kitchen. It was spotless, the kitchen, so I knew he hadn't been eating. Nico never cleaned his dishes. I'd always wind up doing them when I got home.

"Leo," I heard Hazel call my name, panic filling the room as she repeated my name again and again like a mantra. I ran towards her, pausing at the door of the bathroom. She was kneeling, tears silently streaming down her face as she looked up at me with broken eyes. Her finger rose, pointing to the bathtub. My eyes followed her finger.

And I screamed.

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**I AM SO SORRY I'M A TERRIBLE PERSON ACIKLASJF SO EFFIN SORRY! But I had to end it there. I just had to. It was such a perfect cut off moment, and the feels were so intense, and ugh. Sorry. :'( Next chapter coming in like a week or two. Also, for this chapter and the next, I will accept flames, as I am being horribly cruel by dragging this all out. Sorry. **

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**Summary: Leo's flames aren't satisfying him anymore, so he hides in his room. He doesn't eat, sleep, or drink. Jason makes him get out of bed, and Leo and Hazel goes to Nico, who they've lost all contact with, where Leo picks the lock and they enter the apartment. Ends with Leo screaming when he walks into the bathroom with Hazel. **


	10. Iron Man

**Chapter Ten: Iron Man**

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**I am awesome. I got this out so quick! But jeez, this chapter tho. Its rough guys. It is. Such feels, much tears, level rough. Brace yourselves. **

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**WARNING: SO MANY TRIGGERS! Attempted suicide, cutting, gore, blood, swearing, feels oh my! Please do not read unless you can handle this! It is the last chapter (epilogue will come at some point) though, so if you think you can, please do! Because it is the last chapter, I am not, I repeat, NOT, putting a summary. Read it or weep, my pretties. **

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Hazel was crying and I was screaming and neither of us could take our eyes off of the scene in the bathtub. I'd tried bracing myself. I really had.

But nothing could brace me for the blood pooling in the tub. There was no water. Just dark blood nearly two inches high, soaking into Nico's dark jeans and staining his pale skin. He was too pale, there was too much blood, and I knew, I just knew I'd failed.

"I'm sorry, Leo," Hazel sobbed, taking my hand. "We- We should call someone, or do something, I-I don't know what to do Leo!" a horrible keening noise tore from out of my throat, and I lurched forward, wrenching my hand from Hazel's grip. "Leo! Don't, don't touch him…" she whispered. I ignored her, pulling Nico away from the tub and to my chest. I stroked his hair, the tears slowly slipping from my eyes.

"It's okay now, Nico. I'm here. It's okay now," I kept saying, ignoring the blood seeping into my clothes, ignoring the cold stiffness of his body, ignoring the faint blue tinge to his eyelids and lips. I ignored Hazel's shaking voice as she sobbed quietly into her cell phone, I ignored everything but the feel of Nico in my hands.

I must've been hallucinating. I must've been. I must've been so struck with grief that hadn't had time to process, because when my thumb stroked Nico's bottom lip, I swear I felt air pushing through. But that was impossible. Nico was clearly dead. He had to be. He'd lost so much blood, the cuts…there was too many, far too many, crisscrossing his arm in streaks of red. But when I repeated the action, I felt it again.

"HAZEL!" I screamed, "HAZEL, CALL 911!"

"What? Leo, why?" she sniffled, clutching her elbows as she shook.

"I felt him breath," I whispered. "I felt him breath!" I looked up at her, my eyes blown wide with terror. I heard her breath hitch, and then she was kneeling besides me, pressing her fingers to Nico's throat. It felt like an eternity before she jerked back, fresh tears spilling down her dark cheeks.

"Holy shit. Holy fucking shit," she swore, fingers fumbling for her cell. "Holy, mother fucking shit, Leo he has a pulse! Put pressure on his cuts! If he loses any more blood, we'll lose him!" I twisted my back, straining to reach one of the towels hanging behind me. I managed to grab it without needing to get up, and I immediately pulled Nico's arms from the tub, pressing the towel to the cuts while trying not to hurl, trying not to cry at the feel of torn flesh. I couldn't afford to cry, not anymore. Not now that there was a chance.

"The ambulance is coming, Leo! They are on their way," Hazel said, sitting on the side of the tub. She grabbed another towel, and pulled his legs out of the blood. I gasped, shocked. I knew people cut their legs, but I had never seen anything this bad. Hazel just set her mouth in a grim line, as though she knew this was coming, pressing onto the cuts as much as she could with the towels. I was worried he'd bleed out since we couldn't reach all the cuts, and didn't have enough hands to cover the ones on his side, but there was nothing we could do. So, we just stayed like that for a while, praying to any god we could think of that he would be alright.

It took seven minutes for Annabeth, Jason, Frank, Piper and Percy to come, all rushing to put pressure on Nico's cuts, and twelve for the ambulance. They carted Nico's limp body onto a stretcher, pounding down the stairs in their rush. None of us were allowed to ride the ambulance with him, as he was in such a critical state. So we all had to drive to the hospital on our own, trying to fight down panic. I found myself wanting to build a fire again, just for the sake of one. Just to get my mind off of it all.

But I didn't. I sat in the hospital waiting room, nervously fiddling with my clothes. Jason ran home to get us all some stuff to eat, as none of us wanted to leave to the cafeteria or pay for the food. He got me a bag of gears and wires, which I was eternally grateful for. I kept making and dismantling little windup toys.

It was late at night when we finally got news. The doctor came out, looking as tired as we felt.

"It's okay," he told us. "He's going to be okay. We had to give him three blood transfusions, and nearly a hundred stitches, but he's going to be okay. We just moved him out of ICU. **(Intensive care unit, for those who don't know)** You can wait here, but he won't be waking up anytime soon."

"What do you mean?" Hazel demanded.

"Well…He's comatose." The doctor winced from the fierce look in Hazel's golden eyes, running his finger through his hair. "Even if he wasn't, we have him on a ton of painkillers."

"So how do you know he's comatose?" Annabeth asked, gray eyes shining.

"His brain waves are too low, even for the amount of meds in him. It might only last a day, or until we take him off the meds, or it could be more long term. He lost nearly eighty percent of his blood, so we can't know how he is going to react. His body might suddenly give out, so while he's stable for now, I can't promise anything." He sighed, shrugging.

"C-Can I see him?" I whispered.

"Two of you can enter the room at a time," he said, nodding. We all looked at each other, our group of seven.

"Hazel and Leo should go," Percy finally said. "He'd want them. We can switch out tomorrow." There was a faint chorus of agreement, and then the doctor was leading us through bleached white hallways barren of any decoration or life. We entered a small room, the doctor closing the door on us after a nurse left.

It was hard, seeing Nico like this, so pale and still, all his veins shinning a bright blue against his skin, lacing up his neck and eyelids and temples. His arms were bandaged up to his shoulders, and even past, and I knew his legs and torso would be just as bandaged. If it hadn't been so horrible, I'd have made a joke about him being a mummy. I was just grateful he hadn't attacked his neck, because we'd really have lost him had that happened. As it was, the number of tubes and sensors placed on his body made me wince. I just wanted to pull him tight to my chest and feel his heart beat under my hand, but I was too afraid to hurt or disturb him, so I just pulled up one of the two chairs in the room and took his hand, holding it like I was afraid it would break. Which I was.

Hazel sat across from me, silent. She fell asleep about an hour later to the steady beeping of the machines. I stayed awake, as though on guard, watching against any of the demons that might try to steal my Nico from me.

I'd known when I'd started dating him that he had demons. He'd been through hell and back, and still managed to laugh and make me smile. He was perfect and wonderful and I was never, ever going to let him leave me. The second he woke up, I was kissing him so hard he'd never forget it, and I'd tell him everything I'd never been able to before.

And then I'd yell his ear of for doing that to me.

Or maybe Hazel would do that for me…

The doctor came by every two hours to check on Nico, a nurse stopping by the room every fifteen. She brought us breakfast, and made sure to change out his IV bags each time they needed it. At around three, Jason came, switching places with Hazel, who left the hospital to go home with Frank, only after making me swear to call her if he so much twitched. I was grateful. She needed her sleep.

"You need to sleep too, Leo," Jason said, as though reading my mind. "You won't do him any good if you pass out."

"I've spent weeks with no sleep before, most of the time spent working. I can handle a couple of days," I smiled weakly.

"Fine. But I'm only letting you go for two day stretches. Tomorrow, Percy is taking your spot. You are still recovering from…from before," Jason scowled. I nodded. "How are you holding up, anyhow?"

"Been better," I admitted. "But I've seen friends in this situation before, so I could be worse. It's hard." Jason nodded, understanding. We sat there in silence for a few minutes, just watching Nico sleep. I was happy to say that you could now tell he was breathing, although I still tested it every ten minutes, just to make sure.

"I remember when Nico first came out to me," Jason broke the silence with a smile. "This bully at school was calling him a fag, and telling him to just admit his crush on Percy already. I was there, trying to tell him to shut up, but Nico just told me, 'I can handle myself, Grace.' And he said, 'I had a crush on Percy. That's the big secret. Happy you ass hat?'" I giggled.

"Nico would say that," I agreed. Jason nodded.

"A week after that he started dating Will Solace. That was a weird at first. Not because Will is a guy, but because he is so chill and surfer-y. And Nico is, well, so Goth-y." I nodded.

"They took out his piercings. If they close up, he's going to be really mad," I sighed. Jason laughed.

"I'm sorry, but that just sounds so funny. Nico yelling at the nurses to give him his dam studs back," Jason snickered. I giggled again.

"'What the hell do you mean I can't have a bar in my eyebrow!? This is discrimination!" I mimicked, making Jason crack up.

"'Can I use a straw instead?'" Jason snorted. I cackled, imagining Nico with a straw keeping his holes open.

"Oh, gods, I want to see that," I smirked. Jason nodded. We spent the next few hours sharing funny stories about Nico, and trying to figure out how he'd react to certain scenarios. We already knew he'd be put in the adult ward at the hospital. There was no way they'd let him home after this. And we both knew he'd be pissed as hell about that.

"'I am NOT wearing these slippers! Give me my boots, woman!'" I snorted. Jason collapsed against his chair, breathless.

"What on earth are you two doing?" I heard a female voice ask. I turned to see Hazel standing at the door way, hand on her hip. I blushed.

"Laughing?" I volunteered meekly. She sighed, shaking her head.

"Good. There is no need for us all to be morose all the time. Nico wouldn't want that. You can go home, Jason. I'll take your place," she said. Jason nodded, rubbing my hair affectionately before leaving. And so it went, for nearly two weeks. They took Nico off the painkillers within three days, but he didn't wake up for another six.

I was the only one in the room. Hazel had gone home, and Percy was eating at the cafeteria. It was about eight at night, but I suppose that when you are in a coma, you don't really care about that stuff.

I'd been playing with my gears, twisting a bolt using the little wrench in the bag, when I saw Nico's hand twitch. Then it jerked. Then it full out began moving around, small, pathetic noises squeezing out of Nico's mouth. His heart beat began escalating quickly, and I began to panic.

"Nico!" I cried, grabbing his hand and stroking his hair. "Nico, it's okay, I'm here. It's okay, Nico, calm down. Calm down." His hand curled around mine in a bone crunching grip. But his heart began to slow down to a normal beat again.

"L…Leo," he croaked, his eyes slowly opening. I gasped, the two of us just staring at each other. All of my plans, all of my speeches that I'd rehearsed during the days spent waiting, disappeared when I was confronted by his big, wide open eyes. "Leo… I'm sorry…" Tears began falling down my cheeks.

"Nico…" was all I could say, throwing myself onto his chest. He grunted, but slowly managed to wrap his bandaged arms around my back, burying his face into the crook of my neck. He breathed me in, the two of us just holding each other. No words were spoken because no words were needed. I just cried, chanting his name over and over again like a mantra while he held me.

Eventually, I pulled back, cradling his pale face in my hands. And then I began to speak.

"Nico, don't you ever do that to me again, do you understand? Do you understand, Nico? I'm not even just talking about the fact that you nearly died, but we are not repeating that again, either, got it? I'm saying, don't you ever, for one moment, think about breaking up with me ever again. Do you understand?! We are getting married, okay, we are never, ever breaking up!" I stared him straight in the eyes, dead serious. And yet, Nico began to laugh, tears spilling over his cheeks as he nodded.

"Yes. Oh god yes, Leo, never, ever again," he sobbed, grabbing me and pulling me close. I wrapped my arms around his neck, stroking his hair as we both cried.

"It's okay, Nico. It's okay. It's okay," I kept whispering, placing kisses all over his face. "It's okay." And it was.

* * *

**Dam those feels tho… Sorry not sorry… I feel like this is the perfect end for this story, don't you? I will send out an epilogue at some point, and I already have a good idea for it! You guys are going to LOVE it! I hope you enjoyed this story, and please review! Thank you for sharing this wonderful journey with me! This I think is my longest story so far, and I am very pleased with it!**


	11. AN (I'm sorry)

**Hello my pretties! I am being a horrible person and an even more horrible author! YAYAYAYAYAYAY! *cries internally* Ok, i know just doing an authors note is literally the worst thing ANYONE CAN DO, but guess what? IMA DOIN IT! I just wanted to let all of you who Favorited or followed me or this story (first off, THANK YOU YOU BEAUTIFUL LOVELIES OSDKALAKD I LOVE YOU! secondly, why? seriously, PM me or let me know, because im very confused as to why i have so many followers. I mean, are you all nuts?! Just kidding, i love you!) ANYWAYS, thirdly, this story will NOT, I repeat, NOT have that pretty little epilogue i promised. I know, im utterly horrible. It was going to have a proposal and everything... *cries***

**Let me explain myself a little. I know i've been horrible and been unresponsive for quite a while (what's it been, a few months) and I'd like to say its because i've been in the hospital again...but i've really just been lazy and been adjusting to A LOT of stuff. And i probably won't make another story until May, at the earliest, because I'm doing Camp NaNoWriMo this April, which you all should look up (you can do fanfiction FYI. Just in case you are curious. And no, mine is not fanfiction) and that means i will be pretty focused on my second novel, and will be unable to write more fanfiction. **

**Sowwy... **

**So I really do apologize for this. i know I am horrible and i probably need to fall into Tartarus, but I had to let all you lovelies know that there wouldn't be an epilogue and that i wouldn't be active for a while. So yea. If you really want either that Epilogue with that beautiful proposal, or that smut scene i would've added, please review and let me know, or visit my home page, where i will attempt to set up a poll (i've never done it before, and i honestly just want to try it out lmao) so YEA. Sowwy... Ill go now... *leaves trails of tears behind her***


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